Gebeya to Provide Scholarships to Women Software Developers in Ethiopia with IFC Support

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, March 5, 2019- Gebeya,
a Pan-African Education Technology and Online Job Placement Companyand IFC, a member of the World Bank
Group through the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi), today
signed a $500,000 advisory services agreement to implement the Digital
Gender-Ethiopia Program. It aims to increase the number of female software
developers.

The project will provide training to 250 female software developers and
seed funding to 20 female entrepreneurs whose digital business ideas will
be supported by Gebeya. The entrepreneurs will receive technical and strategic
guidance on business development from Gebeya, alongside advisory services
from IFC to support mentorship programs from globally recognized digital
entrepreneurs.

Gebeya seeks to address the challenges African women face in receiving
quality instruction in the areas of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering
and Mathematics). The initiative by IFC and Gebeya will play a critical
role in advancing these efforts.

Amadou Daffe, CEO and Co-founder, Gebeya said: “The project will enable
the company to increase its scope beyond the current student-paid model
to include a cohort of female software developers whose training will be
financed through this scholarship program.” He added, “African women
constitute 50 percent of Africa’s population but only contribute 39 percent
to its Gross Domestic Product. This is a result of their inability to afford
tuition, societal misconception around women and career ability, inadequate
familial support as well as gender stereotypes. We can no longer stand
back and watch as intelligent, capable African women are pushed to the
sidelines. We have to do our part to close the gender gap in technology
where females are highly underrepresented.”

Gebeya will be responsible for identifying talented candidates who can
benefit from the program based on needs. The training will be conducted
in four, six-month cohorts.

“IFC is committed to helping women find opportunities through skills development
that lead to good-paying jobs. Gebeya's training differs from others in
the market through its blended curriculum that includes basic and advanced
programming and real-world, job-readiness skills,” said Henriette
Kolb, Manager, IFC Gender Secretariat.

Since its establishment, Gebeya has grown rapidly, helping graduate over
400 candidates from its training programs, placing 140 graduate professionals
on its IT skills marketplace, generating significant client orders through
its platform every month.Gebeya is currently incubating three companies,
two of which are founded or co-founded by women and are almost coming to
the end of their program.

The first phase of the Digital Gender-Ethiopia Program will be funded by
the IFC Creating Markets Advisory Window and the second will be funded
by We-Fi.

About IFC
IFC—a sister organization of the World Bank and member of the World Bank
Group—is the largest global development institution focused on the private
sector in emerging markets. IFC works with more than 2,000 businesses worldwide,
using its capital, expertise, and influence to create markets and opportunities
in the toughest areas of the world. In fiscal year 2018, IFC delivered
more than $23 billion in long-term financing for developing countries,
leveraging the power of the private sector to end extreme poverty and boost
shared prosperity. For more information, visit www.ifc.org
Stay Connectedwww.facebook.com/IFCwbgwww.twitter.com/IFC_orgwww.youtube.com/IFCvideocastswww.ifc.org/SocialMediaIndexwww.instagram.com\ifc_org
About We-Fi
The Women
Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative
(We-Fi) is a collaborative partnership among fourteen governments and eight
multilateral development banks. Housed in the World Bank Group, We-Fi seeks
to unlock billions of dollars in financing to tackle the full range of
barriers facing women entrepreneurs—increasing access to finance, markets,
technology, and mentoring, while strengthening policy and legal and regulatory
frameworks. As one of the We-Fi implementing partners, IFC supports private
sector clients with investments and advisory services to expand financial
services and market access for women-owned/led firms, as well as increasing
the capacity of women entrepreneurs to run high-growth businesses. For
more information, visit www.we-fi.org
About Gebeya
Gebeya is a Pan African Ed Tech and online Marketplace Company headquartered
in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia with offices in Kenya, US and UK as well as operations
in Djibouti and Senegal. The company focuses on cultivating the untapped
tech potential of the African youth to prepare them for the demands of
the global market. Gebeya aims to become an active contributor to Africa’s
digital transformation and build a booming Africa for Africans through
continental and global job opportunities. It also offers support to innovative
young people with an entrepreneurial mindset who are strong advocates of
structural change to strengthen the innovative and technology sectors of
Africa. For more information: please visit www.gebeya.com
Stay Connected:www.linkedin.com/gebeyawww.twitter.com/gebeyatalentwww.facebook.com/gebeyatalent